The Allen Telescope Array is swallowing terabytes of celestial radio data in the ongoing hunt for alien signals from space. The SETI Institute is about to hand out the data to anyone with ideas for new ways to sift it.

Host Michelle Thaller talks with Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait about a conundrum: why are humans so quick to explain the unknowns of the cosmos as aliens? And why is this healthy imagination important in science?

Featured Observing Resources

Our calendar combines gorgeous astrophotography and special sky scenes that illustrate the positions of the Moon and bright planets. It also highlights the important celestial events of every month, including solar and lunar eclipses, meteor showers, conjunctions, and occultations of bright stars by the Moon.